Broken Frontier

Three of the DCU's strongest women are showcased in this standalone story. Zatanna, (super magician), Wonder Woman (Amazonian princess) and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) are brought together at the insistence of Zatanna. Barbara, always on the job, is convinced to let go for just one night. What ensues is a celebration of friendship, strength, and pure joy.

There's no big battle or giant threat to humanity that the ladies must overcome as with other issues of The Brave and the Bold. Straczynski captures these women's voices with such a natural ease that extended scenes of fisticuffs aren't necessary to keep us interested. This book is all about heart and love. Making this all the more possible are the gorgeous pencils by Cliff Chiang and colors by Trish Mulivihill.

Chaing and Mulivihill absolutely own this book, pouring every single ounce of their talent onto these pages. Chiang is able to capture exactly what makes these women both attractive and appealing as individuals and is given the opportunity to depict them in their costumes as well as their civvies. What makes this issue special is the amount of emotional beats that needed to be conveyed in just twenty two pages. Many might consider this the comic book equivalent of an episode of Sex and the City, but they would be wholly mistaken. This is a visceral read with more emotional impact than your average "everything will change" event. 

Many people will make mention that this issue works due to its strong ending. Thats not entirely true. In fact, the ending of this issue is only strong due to the sheer excellence of talent preceding it. JMS and Chiang have chosen a striking moment in time and added even more depth and emotional impact to it, making the story's journey of friendship and love a bittersweet and almost tragic one. This is a bold move that, in the wrong hands, could have felt forced, or worse, cheap.

As a reader, Straczynski's name has never been the major draw when purchasing new titles. I missed the boat on his television work and was never able to stick with his previous comic titles. I read 75% of Rising Stars and never felt the need to finish it. I stuck with his Thor relaunch for a year and was entertained enough, having never previously read the character. Skipped a month for budgetary reasons and realized I didn't miss it. It's easy to recognize the craft and technique in his writing. That alone is enough to be respected and admired, however his stories never connected on an emotional level.

With The Brave and the Bold, the writer has delivered single issue stories that have succeeded in connecting with every emotional response necessary. Last month's adventure with Aquaman and Etrigan was an epic story told through the eyes of a common fisherman. Massive, exciting, action packed, and grounded by a normal individual. This issue was a quieter story with an even more emotional battle, that happened off panel for the most part. Both felt epic and important and had real impact on the characters involved. Some writers have failed to do that in multiple year runs on a title. Straczynski has done it for me twice now, and most likely in the issues missed before.

Words fail to describe the quiet effort and surprise in store for those that pick this up. Whether it's the story, characters, or art that gets you, something will. If you're lucky enough to have a connection with all of these aspects, then you'll likely be adding this book to your pull list and searching for everything else in which Cliff Chiang has put pencil to paper.

Enjoy and please, don't flip through to the end. The last splash page should be opened up at the right time and in the right way. You won't be disappointed.